/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>>4902113
Most people who successfully use RedBubble or S6 do not promote their shop. If you were going to directly promote your work / merch, it'd probably be more worth it to arrange your own manufacturing/inventory/shipping, as the margins will be much higher and more worth the effort of promoting via social media. I've not done a personal project, but they are absolutely legitimate ways of creating opportunity for yourself. Kickstarter is one way to see it come to fruition, but there are other ways as well.

>>4902125
I moved away from drawing designs based on licensed IP's years ago because it's just too risky. Hardly any commercial IP can be considered "safe" anymore and companies have gotten much, much better at taking down infringing work via DMCA's. When I was making new designs, I focused on making designs based around tags and keywords that I researched as being relatively high-demand and low-competition. Creating random original work will likely get you nowhere. You need to design around what people are searching for.

>>4902125
>where or how do I find these people?
See pic related. When submitting your work, less is more. You are not a used car salesman - you do not have to "sell" yourself. The goal is to simply let them know you exist, to share your work and to express your interest in working with them. Just email businesses to introduce yourself and your work, drop a link to your portfolio, and explicitly express your interest in working with them in the future. If your work is good, you'll be considered for freelance projects (ideally they'll tell you this). Most of the time, you will not hear back / get rejected. That's completely normal, though it's possible they won't respond to your initial email but still email you months later with an opportunity.

>>4825800
>>4833227
The same way you get into most illustrative opportunities: Build a stylistically cohesive, relevant & strong portfolio, and pitch it to businesses that can use what you've got. You can identify these opportunities by keeping a diligent eye on things you encounter in the real world. If you ever come across something and think something like "I could do that! / I'm better than this artist.", then there is nothing stopping you from reaching out and pitching your freelance illustration services to the business that published whatever it is that you've noticed. Breweries, design/marketing agencies, most businesses (big and small), organizations, etc. etc. can all use an illustrator in one for or another.

Pic related is a basic step-by-step approach on how to pitch your illustration services. Doing this is a skill in itself that needs to be practiced, just like your artistic skills. You will suck at first, but you will (hopefully) get better the more you do it, and you'll learn from your mistakes regarding what is and isn't working.

>>3574680
I make my income solely as a freelance illustrator in the US. In my opinion, there are 2 things that are common threads among all successful professional freelance artists (ie. freelancers who are doing work for businesses - not personal, private commissions). They are:

1.) They all have a strong, unique, cohesive style & voice to all the work in their portfolio. You can look at their body of work and it all looks like the work of one, singular artist.
2.) They all embraced the entrepreneurial aspect of being an independent artist, and have worked hard to proactively seek out opportunities for themselves as opposed to sitting around expecting to be 'discovered'

I think most people tend to fall flat on #2 in regards to handling their freelance work as the the business that it is. Freelance illustration is all about making connections - connections between a client (a person who needs 2D illustrative imagery for a project) and you, an artist (a person who provides said imagery). Essentially, you need to hunt down and match up with those who can use what you've got. There are different ways to do so, but you'd be surprised how far a simple introductory email can get you.

Pic related summarizes the process. Getting together a cohesive portfolio is hard. Hunting down appropriate opportunities is hard. Reaching out to those new clients to propose your services is hard (and comes with a lot of rejection). But it gets easier. Getting over that initial hump where nothing is working is the most difficult part, but the more experience you get, the easier every part of the process becomes.

Please note that developing a large online following is not totally necessary for doing freelance illustration. It can help for sure, and you can definitely get opportunities passively from people discovering you online, but it won't be enough to supply a steady stream of full time work unless you are very well known.

Hope that helps!

>>3349805
Follow the attached steps. At no point in this process do you need a large following or to be well know in order to get well-paying commissioned work from businesses.

Create your portfolio > Find relevant clients who could use your work > Reach out to them > Get job

Freelance illustration. Took a long while to get the ball rolling, but I've got a reliable & diverse income stream all stemming from my illustration work. It's difficult but rewarding, and can pay just fine. Once everything sort of 'clicks' and gets more streamlined, then it's really not too stressful. Starting out is without a doubt the most excruciatingly difficult part of the process, as the crippling self-doubt & lack of results can take a toll on your spirits.

My overall freelancing technique involves something very similar to what >>3345622 describes. Essentially, build a good cohesive portfolio and then locate decision makers (art directors, etc.) at businesses you think you'd be a good fit for, and try and connect with them. The key is to do proactive stuff like this. Don't be passive and think that someone will just randomly fall upon your portfolio and give you a big break. Waiting around for people to reach out to you or to be 'scouted' or 'discovered' is an absolutely terrible plan. It can happen - sure - but it's too sporadic to be relied upon for a steady income.

Attached is a more expanded, step-by-step look at the process of identifying and reaching out to the right people. Hope this helps!

>>3274644
>>3274653
For sure! Kind of hard to summarize everything, but I figured I'd touch on some things I did that I feel helped things start to 'click'.

1. Being more proactive in finding opportunities: I've shared the attached image a few times when talking to others here about this, as these steps are essentially what I do to actively hunt out opportunities. It sucks to do this and it can be really scary at first, but it gets easier the more you practice. A lot of good things can happen with just a simple, friendly introductory email that shares your portfolio.

2. Paying attention to whats working and what doesn't: Kind of tying into #1 - for me, this meant spending less time building up social media and more time proactively reaching out to relevant businesses for opportunities. Social media can have a fairly low return on the time required to grow it - time that could be spent on more productive things. It's an entirely passive approach to self-promotion that relies far too heavily on chance of being 'discovered', which hinges on luck more so than other things you can do. I still think it's important to have some social media presence, but I think it should be more of a supplementary thing rather than your primary means of self-promotion. I think it's important to take 'luck' out of the equation as much as possible.

3. Developing a more versatile style: Through a series of different influences and inspirations, my style of illustration became more much more graphic + simplified over the years. Thankfully, I found there's a generally higher demand for this style of work than there is for more digitally-painted work (which a lot of people on /ic/ are interested in). However, it all really depends on what type of opportunities you seek out. For example, I wouldn't submit my illustration work to Wizards of the Coast since it's stylistically inappropriate for that particular industry.

Hope that helps!

>>3249676
> Should we be spending more time managing social media instead of grinding loomis?
Social media does not necessarily mean making connections. Growing a large social media following is an over-emphasized method of creating opportunities for freelance artists. It can work, but if you've put too many of your eggs into social media, then you've essentially left your career opportunities up to the luck of being 'discovered', and luck is a bad business move.

Pic related is the most straight forward way of identifying and connecting with the right people. These general steps are the backbone of career development in any freelance field, (assuming you want to get well paying commission jobs). Social media can and should be used as a marketing tool, but it should be supplemental to these basic marketing efforts which will make up the bulk of your promotion. There is no better way to find opportunities for yourself than these steps if you have no inherent connections.

I typically post pic related whenever people here need advice when it comes to monetizing their work through freelancing. I've been freelancing for the past few years on and off, but this year things have really 'clicked' and the steps in the attached image really are to thank. The attached image outlines the basic steps for converting your art skills into well-paying commissioned work. The fact that you know you'd like to focus on board game art is a great start - it's a booming industry with lots of opportunity and less competition than doing freelance illustration for video games, for example. Also, I personally don't think you need to be that great of an artist to get into board game art - I've seen a lot of sub-par work published on very popular board games, so I think that industry would be a great industry to target.

As far as your current work goes, >>3242020 is right on the money. You have no finished work. Everything comes across as a sketch or a study, and the flat grey background is truly awful. You don't seem like an artist that has anything of value to offer businesses (which are the types of clients you should be focusing on).

If you want to get into doing art for board games (as an example), you need to create work similar to work that is currently being published. Go online and start looking at board games and their artwork. Look not only at the elaborate cover art (typically a full illustration), but the small stuff as well (tiny, simple illustrations that might go on the cards, or smaller little details on a board-game map, etc.) The closer your work is to the jobs you're trying to get, the better. Focus your portfolio and curate your work with a specific purpose, and you'll stand a much, MUCH better chance at landing great paying & rewarding jobs than you would if your portfolio was all over the place.

I've routinely encouraged aspiring artists here to consider exploring freelance illustration for businesses more. There are many, many opportunities for illustrators like you've described OP - illustrations that need to be done by normal businesses. They've usually got great budgets for the amount of effort needed to complete the project, and it's a fantastic, low-stress, high-paying way to make money with illustration. I'm personally working on a similar project for a small, successful chocolate store: it's ~$1100 for about 30 simple line drawings similar to what you've attached (a bit higher quality though), and it'll take just ~3 days tops. These jobs are plentiful and easy to do.

Here's the problem though: /ic/ - in general - does not acknowledge this type of work as being legitimate. This board has fierce tunnel vision on a very narrow sect of 2D art fields, and will never consider consider anything beyond them as being a viable avenue of income. These are:
- Fantasy & Sci-fi illustration
- Concept art
- Porn Patreons
- Private commissions on social media via commission sheets
Any opportunities beyond these are largely seen on /ic/ as illegitimate. I think it has to do with how so many people here seem to think that digital painting for the entertainment industry is the only way to do illustration, which is a truly naive thing to think.

OP - if you want to create a secondary portfolio to start freelancing to businesses like this, I would highly encourage it. I've attached the same steps I always share when people are interested in freelancing - these are the basic steps you need to take in order to start getting work. In some ways, it's simple: create your product, and try and sell it. I think where most people fall flat is that they can't be bothered to make a curated, focused portfolio, and that they are unable to properly research businesses and contact them.

Hope this helps!

I also like your style, OP, though I'm a sucker for more hipstery, not trying to be super realistic, type of stuff. Don't fall for any horse shit on /ic/ concerning your fundies - a solid, consistent style is more important than being a master of the fundamentals. Though stuff like >>3166365 is much better than >>3166378. Do what you do best and double down on it.

The cold hard truth is this: You are not going to make a livable income anytime soon. You are admittedly profoundly lacking in any freelance + business skills, and that is something you need to develop. Shit is going to be hard.

One thing is for certain - you need to ditch comics. There is just no reliable, sustainable money in comics, at least not at your level. If you want to start making money ASAP, follow the steps in my attached image and start trying to become a freelance illustrator. Develop a good portfolio that isn't full of comics, and start pitching your services to businesses - especially successful local businesses. I'm working an easy $1000+ commission (will take ~4 days tops) for a small but super successful chocolate store, simply because I had work they liked and that I bothered to actually contact them and express interest in working with them.

Develop your services as an illustrator and start selling it. It's difficult, but you have a much, MUCH more realistic chance at making money than trying to aimlessly do comics and hoping you get 'discovered'. Be proactive, not passive.

Hope that helps!

As a freelance illustrator, I've had good success and a ton of repeat clients on Upwork. 95% of the jobs are trash (low pay, bad clients), but so are 95% of the freelancers (low skill, unprofessional). If you are friendly, thoughtful and attentive in your bids, and your work is good (and versatile), then you will definitely land regular illustration gigs.

Yes, the cut they take sucks, (20% on your first $500 with a client, then 10% on payments higher than $500), but I'd be lying if I said it ultimately wasn't worth it.

The folks who moan and complain about it being impossible to land gigs on Upwork are either
1. Bad artists with no unique style.
2. Terrible, awkward & generally unprofessional communicators.
3. Copy+pasting generic pitches instead of really reading and responding to the clients needs
4. Applying to jobs that their style is not appropriate for.

You're also at a huge advantage if you live in the US, as you can apply to "US only" jobs which often pay much, much better than global jobs.

>>3160382
>freelance illustrator and concept artist
Pick one and double down on it. There is a big difference between being a freelance illustrator and being a concept artist. You won't get anywhere by splitting your efforts in trying to grow simultaneously in both industries.

>>3160612
See pic related for advice on how to build freelance career and using email to land work. Though the thread is about job board sites, not cold-calling art directors.

>>3155546
>>3155553

Attached is a good summary of the basic steps to follow in order to build a freelance career. I wrote this a while ago and it seemed to help a lot of people sort of feel a little less lost.

>>3153596
Freelance advice.

You could be a freelance illustrator. It baffles me how overlooked on /ic/ being a freelance illustrator is, considering this is mainly a drawing board. And I don't mean being a freelance illustrator in terms of getting commissioned work from bottom-of-the-barrel Tumblr clients using those awful commission charts, but getting commissioned work from real, actual businesses that need illustration.

The money and hours are great once you get the ball rolling with repeat clients.

Commission charts are the epitome of naive, immature artists. These fast-food style menus don't translate well to the business of freelance illustration.

Just do it the right way and make tons more money for the same amount of work.

Freelancing advice.

>>3131801
>>3131801 (OP)
>how to sell myself as an artist or such.
>I aspire to be a freelancer of sorts,

You're lost in your life because you don't know what the first steps are to achieving your goals and dreams. If you woke up one morning and you knew the exact thing you needed to do that day to advance your career as an artist, you would have the energy and motivation to do it because you know it will lead to positive results.

However, that's a pipe dream. There is no omnipotent way to know what you're supposed to do with your life. No one is a psychic. The best you can do, however, is approach things as methodically as you can and treat things like an entrepreneur would. You need to set daily goals you can fulfill that work towards meeting your goals. What you've described as your goals is a career as a freelance illustrator, and that is essentially a business you need to build. A business supplies things that customers need, and you need to create something that you see is in demand.

Follow pic related. I should really write a new one with more in depth info, however this is a good, quick overview of the basic framework for starting to focus your work towards fulfilling the needs of clients in return for money It's a shame that art schools don't teach this that much (mine sure didn't), but it doesn't have to be as complicated and as daunting as it may seems. It's going to be difficult - yes - but it is entirely possible. Best thing is this: you don't even need to be that good. Simply trying and not giving up puts you ahead of a vast majority of other competing artists.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I think that if your life had more of a direction to follow, then you wouldn't be stuck in such a hole where you don't know what to do with yourself. Set your daily goals, and take things step by step. Don't kill yourself. It's going to be very difficult, but I promise you that your first taste of success will make it all worth it.

Reposting a screencap of some advice I gave regarding starting a career freelance illustration.

Don't bother making these awful commission charts where you charge $20 for a single illustration, when you can focus on landing one commercial client to pay you $2000 instead. I promise you it'll be easier to land one $1000 job than it will be to land 100 $10 jobs. If you want to make a solid living with a career in commissioned freelance work, you need to be focusing on landing commercial clients rather than these bottom-of-the-barrel DA / tumblr commissions.